It’s one of the only facilities of its kind in the United States. When you die, you’ll get buried or cremated or shot into space, and it’s over. But what about those left behind? Not children, but pets. Well, if you have the money, you can check Fido or Fluffy into the Stevenson Companion Animal Life-Care Center, the world’s first retirement home for pets. The facility is on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It’s home to 21 cats, 16 dogs, and a llama at the moment, but the facility is expanding to a staggering 11,000 feet and adding an array of bird-friendly features for its future residents.
“It’s been an evolution,” said Dr. Henry Presnal, the director of the facility and a vet for 27 years. “Growing up on the farm, dogs would be outside and cats lived in the barn. To go from that as a kid, to a practicing veterinarian … I’d see big, grown, tough men cry when you’d give them a poor prognosis for their pet. To me, it was just unbelievable how things had changed. Animals have become children substitutes.”
Much like children, providing a future for your animals after you’re gone isn’t cheap. Stevenson Center requires a 30 to 39-year-old to make one of two payments, either a minimum $100,000 bequest or $10,000 up-front payment, to have pets placed in the center. The fee doubles for large animals. Still, the center has 359 animals from 20 states signed up to enter the facility. It’s a good bit of cash, but it’s worth it to keep your pet from becoming dinner.
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